Builder Confidence Holds Strong And Steady In May

WASHINGTON D.C. ?EUR??,,????'??+ Builder confidence in the new-homes marketplace held firm at a healthy level in May, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reports. NAHB?EUR??,,????'???s Housing Market Index (HMI), a monthly gauge of builder sentiment, remained unchanged from April?EUR??,,????'???s 69 reading. ?EUR??,,????'??Demand remains strong and as mortgage interest rates begin to edge up, buyers continue to move into the marketplace at a healthy clip,?EUR??,,????'?? said NAHB President Bobby Rayburn. The HMI is derived from a monthly survey of builders that NAHB has been conducting for the last 19 years. Homebuilders are asked to rate current and expected sales of single-family homes as ?EUR??,,????'??good,?EUR??,,????'?? ?EUR??,,????'??fair?EUR??,,????'?? or ?EUR??,,????'??poor.?EUR??,,????'?? They are also asked to rate traffic of prospective buyers as ?EUR??,,????'??high to very high,?EUR??,,????'?? ?EUR??,,????'??average?EUR??,,????'?? or ?EUR??,,????'??low to very low.?EUR??,,????'?? Scores for responses to each component are used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index, where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor. The indicator measuring buyer traffic soared to a 13-month high in May, offsetting slight declines in the two other components that comprise the HMI index. The index gauging traffic of prospective buyers jumped seven points to 55, indicating significant improvement in the flow of visitors to model homes over the last month. Meanwhile, the index gauging current sales of new single-family homes fell three points to 74, while the index gauging sales expectations for the next six months declined one point to 75.